This content is provided by Brighter Vision, an affinity partner of AAMFT. This information is not necessarily the views of AAMFT and should not be interpreted as official policy.
It’s hard to believe that only a few short weeks ago, it was business as usual. We were working side-by-side with our coworkers in our Colorado office, partially but not fully understanding what the future of COVID-19 may have in store for our own community.
Fast forward to today and we’re all confined to our makeshift home offices with no one to physically interact with but our restless canine colleagues. But if the recent ‘stay at home’ order has taught us anything, it’s that no matter how tough things may seem, they could be much worse if it weren’t for one thing helping us through – technology.
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That being said, social media has quickly become even more critical to the overall infrastructure of our collective society. From government agencies and healthcare organizations using social to communicate important coronavirus updates, to the personal benefits we’re experiencing as so many of us are now using social platforms to ease our isolation woes – social media is providing our entire nation with an integral foundation to stay connected and informed in a time we’re all feeling so secluded.
With a little time each day (only about 10 to 15 minutes), you can use social media to stay connected and demonstrate leadership in your community. Then, when we come out of this on the other side, all of those people will remember you were there for them, they’ll remember what you said, and they’ll remember that you were the one who helped them through it all. Thus, they’ll be very likely to continue turning to you for support – i.e. they’ll become new clients!
In this article, we’ll cover a few ways you can use social media to provide digital therapeutic support in the midst of the novel Coronavirus.
Demonstrate Your Expertise
In a recent press call, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg said that the usage of Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp has more than doubled since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. Likewise, influencer agency Obviously reported a 22% increase in Instagram impressions from last quarter and a 27% jump in engagement on TikTok within the last month.
Given the data showing this massive increase in social media engagement, there’s never been a better time to position yourself as an expert in your field and build your following on social media.
But how can you use social media to demonstrate your expertise? By sharing as much helpful information as possible with your online audience.
And this helpful information can come in many different forms…
- You can start out by simply reposting (or retweeting) information shared by other reliable resources such as updates from the WHO, CDC, and your own city or state’s local authorities.
- You can use your own knowledge and experience to post helpful tips on how to reduce stress, panic, and worry during these anxiety-inducing times. Consider giving away a free checklist, a video/audio clip, or hosting a free Facebook Live meditation group. By giving potential clients a free taste of what you can offer them, they’re much more likely to convert to paid clients.
- Or, for those of you who are pressed for time or just not feeling as creative as you’d hope, there’s Social Genie Platform (SGP) With SGP, you can automatically schedule one of our pre-created social media campaigns that already contain dozens of pre-written posts aimed at helping your followers through the perplexities of COVID-19.
Support, Encourage & Engage
It’s no secret that we are social beings. Even those of us who consider ourselves to be more reclusive than others are struggling with the lack of social interaction at this point.
As a therapist, you have the unique ability to help people overcome hardships and ease their minds. Now more than ever before, these are skills that are so direly needed. So, why not use social media as another outlet to help even more people online?
Start out by engaging in conversations that are being had in your own posts or even posts from other influencers in your niche. If someone asks a question that you can provide a helpful answer to or put a new spin on, don’t be afraid to give your own feedback. Providing value is an excellent way to build your online following.
You may have also noticed the recent influx of artists taking to the internet to spread messages of hope and well-being…
Not only has Lizzo’s popular song ‘Good As Hell’ given us a much-needed handwashing alternative to Happy Birthday, but this singer-songwriter also recently led a group meditation – complete with crystals, incense, and her very own flute composition – to ‘promote healing during this global crisis’ on Instagram Live.
Verizon has also put together a charity concert series called Pay It Forward Live, which you can Livestream on Verizon’s Twitter page. To kick off the first event, Dave Matthews performed a brand new song titled Singing From the Windows that he wrote in response to COVID-19.
Of course, we realize that your skillset may be slightly different than these celebrity examples, but that shouldn’t stop you from sharing your own talents with the world to help us all get through this difficult time. In this moment, it doesn’t matter how you’re providing support and encouragement to others – all that matters is that you’re doing it!
Grow Your Practice & Build Your Brand
With social distancing limiting our physical interactions, more and more therapists are turning to telehealth to get their clients through the coming days and weeks.
Now that you’ve taken the plunge and figured out the logistics of providing HIPAA-secure online therapy, take this opportunity to use social media to let everyone know:
- Create posts to promote your new teletherapy service;
- Post on the benefits of teletherapy;
- Post about what a teletherapy session will consist of;
- Post to reassure clients that teletherapy, although it may seem overwhelming, can actually be very easy.
You’ll be surprised at how many new telehealth clients you can get by simply letting your followers know you’re offering it as a service.
But don’t stop there! Continue posting the same type of content to social media for every niche you specialize in.
This is how you will create and grow your overall brand online and, as this happens, you will steadily build trust with your online following of current and potential clients that will then be far more likely to reach out to you in the future.
One of the most valuable features of Social Genie Platform is its ability to put your brand front and center in every single one of your social media posts.
By uploading your logo to the platform, it can be embedded on every image you share along with a link back to your website.
This keeps your brand front of mind and drives more traffic back to your website at the same time.
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Brighter Vision is the ultimate marketing package for therapists, centered around the best therapist website you’ve ever had. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help, please contact us today.
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